Stock attaching device for firearms



April 25, 1939. A. F. LAUDENSACK STOCK ATTACHING DEVICE FOR FIREARMS Filed Sept. 9, 1937 Patented Apr. 25, 1939 Albert F. Laudensack, New Haven, Conn., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Western Cartridge Company, a corporation of Delaware Application September 9, 1937, Serial No. 162,998

12 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in firearm structures, and more particularly to an improvement in means for attaching the stocks of firearms to their complemental barrels.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide at a low cost for manufacture, a superior device whereby the stock of a firearm may be conveniently and surely attached to the barrel thereof.

A further object is to provide a superior device by means of which the stock of a firearm may be adjustably attached to the barrel of such firearm.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a superior, simple, reliable and effective device by means of which a stock may be attached to a firearm-barrel in such manner as to permit compensation for distortion due to moisture, heat, or other causes. 1

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a superior attaching device by means of which a stock may be attached to a firearm-barrel, and by means of which the barrel may be permitted to expand and contract without undue restraint by the said stock.

With the above and other objects in view, as will appear to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure, this invention includes all features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art.

In the accompanying drawing, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a firearm embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a broken view thereof showing the portion of the structure adjacent the forward end of the stock, and showing the stock and wedging-screw in section;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the wedgingscrew;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the couplingband; and

Fig. 7 is a similar view of another form of coupling-band.

The particular firearm herein chosen for illustration in connection with the present invention includes a'receiver 20 having a barrel 2| forwardly projecting therefrom. Located against the under-side of the receiver 20 and the rear portion of the barrel 2| is a stock, generally designated by the reference character 22, and

formed of wood or other suitable material. said stock 22 includes a rearwardly-projecting butt-portion 23 and a forestock-portion 24, though the present invention is not limited to stocks in which the butt-portion and the forestock-portion are formed as a unit. The upper face of the forestock-portion 24 of the stock 22 is formed with an upwardly-opening longitudinal groove 25 of semicircular form in cross-section and designedto accommodate the under-portion of the barrel 2|. Leading out of the central forward portion of the groove 25 is a socket 26 of rectangular form in horizontal cross-section and adapted to receive and stabilize the two complementary terminal-fingers or ears 2! and 28 of a'sheet-rnetal coupling-band generally designated by the reference character 29. The said coupling-band 29 includes in addition to the said terminal-fingersZ'l and28 a cylindrically-contoured tubular portion '30 which is sized to snugly fit the adjacent portion of the barrel 2|.

intersecting the upper end of the socket 26 is a substantially semicirculartransverse groove 3| which extends downwardly and outwardly from the longitudinal groove 25 in the forestock portion 24 of the stock 22. The said groove 3| as before indicated is intersected midway of its length by the upper end of the upwardly-opening socket 26 and is ofa depth sufficient to freely accommodate the lower portion of the tubular portion 30 of the coupling-band 29.

Each of the terminal-fingers or ears 2! and 28 of the coupling-band 29 is formed with-a perforation 32 designed to receive a wedging-screw generally designated by the reference character 33 and accommodated in a bore 34 extending transverselyacross the forestock-portion 24 of the stock 22 beneath the longitudinal groove 25 therein and in: vertical alignment with the curved groove 3| in the said forestock-portion, so as to be intersected intermediate its respective opposite ends by the socket 26, before referred to. The wedging-screw 33, before referred to, includes a cylindrical body-portion 35 havinga kerf 36 in its outer end for engagement by a screw driver or other suitable tool, and-also includes an externally-threaded cylindrical stem 3! joined to the body-portion 35 by a conicallycontoured wedging-portion 38. The outer end of the stem 31 of the wedging-screw 33 extends into threaded engagement with the threaded bore 39, of an escutcheon 40, which latter is provided with a serrated head-portion, 4| seated againsta shoulder 42 formed in, the adjacent The Y enlarged end of the transverse bore 34, before referred to.

The terminal-ears or -fingers 21 and 28 of the coupling-band 29 together constitute what may be aptly termed a draft-tongue or lug, since when the wedging-screw 33 is moved so as to shift its wedging surface 38 from right to left, as viewed in Fig. 4, downward draft will be concurrently exerted against the lower surfaces of the perforations 32 in the two said terminal-ears or -fingers to thereby draw downwardly upon the cylindrically-contoured portion 30 of the said coupling-band and thus seat the under surface of the barrel 2| against the surface of the longitudinal groove 25 in the adjacent portion of the stock.

The downward draft imposed upon the terminal-ears or -fingers- 21 and 28, and hence the amount of similar draft exerted upon the barrel 2|, may be gauged to meet conditions. Thus, for instance, if the user of the arm prefers that the forward end of the stock 22 have but a floating connection with the barrel 2|, the wedgingscrew 33 may be backed off the desired amount to accomplish the aforesaid result. Furthermlore, should any cramping of the barrel be evident under various conditions of dampness, heat, etc., the wedging-screw may be conveniently retired to relax the draft upon the coupling-band, to thus relieve such strain as may exist, and then again screwed inwardly, to secure the desired degree of rigidity between the stock and barrel.

The socket 26, into which the terminal-fingers 21 and 28 project, serves to anchor the couplingband 29 against rotation with respect to the barrel 2|, especially under the turning force exerted by the wedging-screw 33 when the same is threaded from right to left, as viewed in Fig. 4.

Instead of providing a coupling-band formed of sheet-metal, the present invention, if desired, may be carried out by employing a coupling-band like that shown in Fig. 7, which comprises a continuous, unbroken, tubular-portion 43 adapted in inside diameter to freely fit the external diameter of the desired portion of the barrel such as 2|, before referred to. offsetting from the tubular-portion 43 is a draft-tongue 44 formed integral with the said portion 43, and provided with a perforation 45, through which a wedgingscrew like 33, before referred to, may pass for engagement with the lower wall of the said perforation, to exert downward draft upon the said draft-tongue and the coupling-band as a whole, in the same manner as already described in connection with the sheet-metal coupling-band 29.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended tobe embraced therein.

I claim:

1. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock adjacent thereto; of a stockattaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around said barrel and having a drafttongue projecting therefrom; and a wedgingmember carried by and extending in the said stock and movable transversely with respect to the draft-tongue of the said coupling-band, and having wedging engagement therewith to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

2. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock adjacent thereto; of a stockattaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around said barrel and having a substantially-radially-extending draft-tongue projecting therefrom; and a wedging-member carried by and extending in the said stock and movable transversely with respect to the draft-tongue of the said coupling-band, and having wedging engagement therewith to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

3. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock adjacent thereto; of a stockattaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around said barrel and having a drafttongue projecting therefrom and provided with a perforation; and a wedging-member carried by and extending in the said stock and movable transversely through the perforation in the drafttongue of the said coupling-band, and having wedging engagement with the wall of the said perforation to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

4. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock adjacent thereto; of a stockattaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around said barrel and having a substantially-radiallyextending draft-tongue projecting therefrom and provided with a perforation; and a wedging-member carried by and extending in the said stock and movable transversely through the perforation in the drafttongue of the said coupling-band, and having wedging engagement with the wall of the said perforation to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

5. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock adjacent thereto; of a stockattaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around said barrel and having a drafttongue projecting therefrom; and a wedgingscrew having a conically-contoured surface and carried in the said stock, and movable transversely with respect to the draft-tongue of the saidcoupling-band and having its comically-com toured portion in wedging engagement with the said draft-tongue to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

6. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock adjacent thereto; of a stockattaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around the said barrel and having a draft-tongue projecting therefrom and provided with a perforation; and a wedging-screw having a conically-contoured wedging-portion extending through the perforation in the draft-tongue of the said coupling-band, and having wedging engagement with the wall of the said perforation to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

7. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock located adjacent the said barrel and provided with a tongue-receiving socket; of a stock-attaching device, comprising: a conpling-band extending around the said barrel and having a draft-tongue projecting therefrom into the socket in the said stock; and a wedgingmember carried in the said stock and movable transversely across the socket therein into wedging engagement with the draft-tongue of the said.

coupling-band to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

8. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock located adjacent the said barrel and provided with a tongue-receiving socket;

of a stock-attaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around the said barrel and having a draft-tongue projecting therefrom into the socket in the said stock; and a wedging-screw having a comically-contoured portion extending across the socket in the said stock and having Wedging engagement with the draft-tongue of the said coupling-band to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

9. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock located adjacent the said barrel and provided with a tongue-receiving socket; of a stock-attaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around the said barrel and having a draft-tongue projecting therefrom into the socket in the said stock and provided with a perforation; and a wedging-member carried by the said stock and movable transversely through the perforation in the said draft-tongue of the said coupling-band, and having wedging engagement with the wall of the said perforation to draw the said barrel and stock toward each other.

10. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock located adjacent the said barrel and provided with a tongue-receiving socket; of a stock-attaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around the said barrel and having a draft-tongue projecting therefrom into the socket in the said stock and provided with a perforation; and a wedging-screw carried by the said stock and having a conically-contoured wedging-portion extending transversely through the perforation in the draft-tongue of said coupling-band and having wedging engagement with the wall of said perforation to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

11. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock adjacent thereto; of a stockattaching device, comprising: a strap-like coupling-band formed from sheet-metal and having two adjacent terminal-fingers projecting therefrom; and a wedging-member carried by the said stock and movable transversely with respect to both of the said terminal-fingers of the said coupling-band, and having Wedging engagement therewith to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

12. The combination with a firearm having a barrel and a stock adjacent thereto; of a stockattaching device, comprising: a coupling-band extending around said barrel and formed of sheet-metal and having a pair of adjacent terminal-fingers offsetting therefrom and provided with transverse perforations; and a wedgingscrew carried by the said stock and having a conically-contoured wedging-portion extending through the perforations in both of the terminal-fingers of the said coupling-band and having wedging engagement with the walls of the said perforations to draw the said stock and barrel toward each other.

ALBERT F. LAUDENSACK. 

